Budgeting and Variance Analysis for Community and Voluntary Organisations
Budget Preparation
A budget is simply an estimate of what everything will cost. It will include income, expenditure,
capital items and any anticipated voluntary contributions to be made to the organisation. A
budget sets out the organisation’s plans in money terms and should relate to achieving the
aims and objectives of the organisation. The budget should normally be prepared by the
employees (where available), but approved by the Trustees/Board.
Top tips for preparation of a budget:
 If your organisation runs a number of projects, it is important to develop a budget for
each of them. This will enable you to apply for enough funding to run each project
effectively, and to keep track of how much each is costing you.
 In putting together your budget, make a list of everything you will need, and find out
as accurately as you can what each item will cost.
 If you're planning income or expenditure for more than one year, you need to take
into account salary increases, inflation and price rises.
Income and Expenditure Variance Analysis
One of the objectives of budgeting is to provide a base against which actual results can be
compared. Your budget must be realistic, as there is no point analysing variances against an
unrealistic budget. Variance analysis can be simply explained as plan vs. actual. Budgets are
too often proposed, discussed, accepted, and forgotten. Variance analysis looks after-the-fact
at what caused a difference between plan vs. actual. When actual results are better than
expected results, the resulting variance is described as a favourable variance and is often
denoted by the letter F. When actual results are worse than expected results, the variance is
described as an adverse variance and is often denoted by the letter A or shown in brackets or
preceded by a minus ‘-‘ sign.
Budget variances can happen for many reasons, including faulty budget or simply differences
between budget assumptions and actual outcomes. All material budget variances should be
examined by the Trustees/Board of the organisation and every variance should stimulate
questions. For example: Why did one fundraising project cost more or less than planned?
Were objectives met? Is a positive variance a cost saving or a failure to implement? Is a
negative variance a change in plans or an unrealistic budget?
Positive variances aren’t always good news. For example, the positive variance in fundraising
costs means that money wasn’t spent, but it also means that possible fundraising activity
wasn’t completed by the organisation. Income from fundraising could be below expectations
for this same period--could the fundraising costs missed be a possible cause?
In conclusion, community and voluntary organisations must investigate all causes of the
variances and take appropriate action, indicating what the cause was and what is being done
to rectify the situation.
The format of a very simple Income & Expenditure Statement, comparing Actual and Budget,
and containing variances, (and which can be adapted for individual organisations) would be
as follows:
Actual vs. Budget:
Actual year
to date
€
INCOME
Voluntary Income
Membership
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Budget year
to date
€
Variance
€
Donations
Sponsorship & Fundraising
Gifts in Kind
Grant Income
HSE
Pobal
CRAGA
FÁS
Other Grants
Interest
Investment Income
Income from Ancillary Business Activity
Total Income
EXPENDITURE
Operating Expenses
Salaries (incl. PRSI)
Pension
Research & Advocacy
Conferences
Curriculum Development/Education
Transportation
Staff Expenses
Volunteer Expenses
Administration
Telephone
Postage
Printing & Stationery
Travel & Subsistence
Transport
Insurance (incl. Motor)
Repairs & Maintenance
Education & Training
Fund Raising Costs
Audit & Accountancy
Other Professional Fees
Bank Interest & Charges
Depreciation
IT & Systems Development
Sundry Expenses
Premises
Rent
Repair & Maintenance
Energy
Total Expenditure
Surplus / (Deficit)
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